275- ] English Literature
Chris Cleave
Born 14
May 1973 (age 52)
London, England
Occupation Writer
Language English
Alma mater Balliol
College, Oxford
Subject Literary
fiction
Notable works Incendiary
The Other Hand
Biography
Cleave
was born in London on 14 May 1973, brought up in Cameroon and Buckinghamshire,
and educated at Dr Challoner's Grammar School and Balliol College, Oxford,
where he studied experimental psychology. He lives in the UK with his French
wife and three children.
Writing
Cleave's
debut novel Incendiary was published in twenty countries and has been adapted
into a feature film starring Michelle Williams and Ewan McGregor. The novel won
a 2006 Somerset Maugham Award and was shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth
Writers' Prize. The audiobook version was read by Australian actor Susan Lyons.
His
second novel, The Other Hand, was released in August 2008 and was described as
"A powerful piece of art... shocking, exciting and deeply affecting...
superb" by The Independent. It has been shortlisted for the 2008 Costa
Book Awards in the Novel category. Cleave was inspired to write The Other Hand
from his childhood in West Africa. It was released in the US and Canada in
January 2009 under the title Little Bee.
Gold,
his third novel, was called "bold and brave" by The Observer.
Cleave
is a columnist for The Guardian in London. From 2008 until 2010 he wrote a
column for The Guardian entitled "Down with the kids".
Bibliography
Novels
Incendiary
(2005) The Other Hand (2008, Sceptre), published as Little Bee in the United
States and Canada.
Gold
(2012)
Everyone
Brave Is Forgiven (2016)
Short
stories
"Quiet
Time"
"Fresh
Water"
"Oyster"
Incendiary
(novel)
Incendiary
is a novel by British writer Chris Cleave. When it was first published in the
summer of 2005, it garnered international headlines for the eerie similarity of
its plot to the 7 July 2005 London bombings in England carried out on the same
day it was published. It won the 2005 Book-of-the-Month Club First Fiction
Award. A 2008 film with the same name was based on it.
Narrative
The
novel is written as an epistolary first-person novel, in which, the main
character, a young mother, writes a letter to Osama bin Laden after a London
incendiary bombing.
Plot
summary
A
young mother's life is blown apart when her husband and four-year-old son are
killed during a bombing at a football match. Following this, the young mother
falls into a depression. While the young mother tries to battle her depression,
she also must fight the guilt of committing adultery the same day of her son's
and husband's death.
Critical
reception
The
Washington Post called it "A mezmering tour de force". New York Times
said it was "As benefits good genre fiction, Cleave's characters are
sustained, driven and informed by the plot, which dictates and governs
all".[1] It also is considered to be "strong, intelligent,
heart-breaking and realistic. The author said that principally, the novel is
about the feelings of a mother for its children and the aftermath of a
terrorist attack.
Film
adaptation
For
the movie, see Incendiary (film).
The
film, loosely based on the book, was released in the UK on Friday, October 24,
2008. It was directed by Sharon Maguire and starring Michelle Williams in the
main role, supported by Ewan McGregor as Jasper Black, and Matthew MacFadyen as
Terrence Butcher. Unlike the book, the film received poor reviews, receiving
23% of approval in the site Rotten Tomatoes.
